Your facebook friends are undercover feds.

Today a post came to my attention where it was mentioned that more and more FBI agents are active on facebook to spy on people for whatever reason. Read about this in following article in this link:Your facebook friends are undercover feds.

Now this is not something new. Edward Snowden informed us about this and thank god he did. However I do think it is time to address how people are responding to this. Most reactions are like who cares? Or I have nothing to hide. First of all if you make a comment like the latter one then you are not aware at all what it entails. Some of you clearly show that they lack the knowledge how far the invasion of privacy goes. You maybe fine with it now since you actually don't know what they know about you. But I can assure you that when you find out what they do know about you, you will feel violated. Especially since these agents will collect data on you most likely taken out of context that eventually will be used against you. Someone is going to judge what you say or post and make it relevant to a criminal fact or brand you as person of interest. Then technically you are in between innocent and suspect but in reality that means you will be treated like a suspect. One key element of freedom is to be able to say or think what you want with people you trust. Now you should never have important discussions on facebook. Sometimes though it happens and it should be possible to do so without repercussions. Even if the words you use might indicate something violent. Talking about it is not the same as planning or executing that for real. We people are emotional beings and sometimes we say the darnedest things. But should you held accountable for that? No. Most of the time it's just words. And it is very dangerous to dedicate time to these words since they will be looking for things or threats that aren't there and form conclusions that will have devastating effects.

More importantly though is the fact that by allowing this to happen you are giving the government a powerful tool to control your life. Some people will respond, well don't use facebook or any of the social media then. Good point. But how is that a choice? There are many reasons why people are part of the social media because often that is the only way to keep in touch with people these days. On account of everyone being so damn busy with all kinds of thing and not being able to go out as much with friends and family as we used to. It's a quick and easy way to communicate. And freedom should also be deciding for your own how you communicate with people. The government should never have a say or influence that decision.

As for the comments from people who don't seem to care about this. Above are just a few reasons why you should care. But if that is not enough for you then think about this for a moment. Where will it end? When will the government be happy and decide that you are not a threat or risk? Can we really rely upon this agent's judgment? Are they always fair and just. Of course not. They are human beings like you and me who will make mistakes. Only their mistakes will have some grave consequences like ending up in jail. But do you think it will be limited to social media? Don't you think that you will have these agents check out all kinds of sites and forums to keep an eye on things?

Also for the people who say that it is necessary to do so since crimes can be prevented that make and the security will increase. Where is the proof of that? It's just an excuse because guess what, you still won't feel safe on the streets in the dark. No matter how much you wish it you can't ban evil or limit it. Everybody in this world is capable of doing evil and bad things. That is something we have to accept. But it is only warranted to do something about it when you legitimately have a reason to intercept and interfere. You can't predict people's behaviour. Since people can be unpredictable. That is what makes us wonderful human beings or very obnoxious ones. Not knowing is what makes it fun.

Anyways my point is that you should be more aware of the dangers of such policies. Once they start it's a slippery slope with huge consequences. Don't dismiss it if you aren't aware of what is at stake. We are talking about freedom and maintaining control of your own life.